Green Room: Call for a reset of the arts, lounge of the rejected

Arts “reset” on the agenda

More than 30 artistic leaders, artists, writers, academics and policy makers from across Australia will speak at a two-day conference in Adelaide next month calling for “a bold new public agenda for the arts”.

Reset: a new public agenda for the arts will be presented by the Arts Industry Council of South Australia (AICSA) and Reset (a collaborative group representing the three universities in South Australia) in the face of what organizers describe as the “undeniable crises” facing the industry.

UniSA Professor Justin O’Connor says that instead of doubling down on economic arguments, the sector must “put art and culture back at the center of our democracy and the public services needed to meet the challenges of decades future ” .

“The conference offers ideas and discussions on resetting arts and culture policy and advocacy, moving beyond progressive tinkering to a much bolder, public and progressive agenda.

Daytime events will be featured in Flinders Victoria Square, with speakers including TV presenter and actress Julia Zemiro, Shadow Minister of the Arts Tony Burke, Adelaide Writers’ Week director Jo Dyer, writers Ben Eltham and Andrew P Street, the choreographer and the new Australian Dance Theater. artistic director Daniel Riley, outgoing Adelaide Festival executive director Elaine Chia, writer and director Alexis West, and artists Ali Baker and Elaine Crombie.

Artists, academics, activists and artistic leaders are also invited to submit ideas (here) for a session titled I’ll take this as a comment, which will feature seven-minute presentations on how to transform the arts and culture sector (deadline for submission is October 24). You will find more details on the speakers, the program and how to register here.

Immerse yourself in this

An animated 360-degree show anchored in nature and presented in a specially designed space will be the centerpiece of a new month-long event dubbed Immerse at West End hub Light.

Immerse event director Nathan Beazley says the show – called Immersion and created with visual effects artists, including Creative Director Adam Paschke, will take audiences on a 45-minute journey through time to discover how water shaped the world.

Visitors can interact with the show – toss virtual paintballs at the city, control schools of fish with body movements, spotlight animals in the dark Australian bush or bring plants to life in an ancient rainforest. “says Beazley.

Immersion will be presented from November 5 to 28 in a specially constructed space, Ellipse, on the first floor of the Light building in Light Square, with a 360-degree Dicolor LED display that spans 13m by 8m in an oval shape and reaches 4 m high. It uses the technology usually used in online games.

“Imagine virtual reality but shared with 39 other people and not a headset or controller in sight,” says Beazley. “As you walk through the Ellipse, the screens will take you to different places. These lively environments will look and feel like they are spreading in all directions, making you feel like you are there in a huge open space.

Immerse will take place November 5-28 at Light, incorporating live performances at The Lab, facilities and what organizers describe as “augmented reality” food and wine tasting experiences. The full program is online.

“Salon of the rejected”

The Salon des Refusés – dubbed the Archibald and Wynne Prize’s ‘alternative’ exhibit – comes to Adelaide this month for the first time in its 30-year history.

Tania Wursig Chakita, a double portrait of couple Nikita Majajas and Charlie Villas, won the audience award in 2021 Salon des Refusés.

The exhibition will be on display at the David Roche Foundation House Museum in North Adelaide from October 9 to December 11, with more than 50 works chosen from the hundreds of entries in the Archibald Prize for Portrait and the Wynne Prize for Landscape Painting and sculpture of figures that have not been selected for display in official exhibitions of the Art Gallery of NSW.

They include 2021 Archibald Prize participants such as Craig Ruddy’s I am Gulpilil – Portrait of David Gulpilil, Wendy sharpe Taylor Fontaine and the Magda Szubanskis and Chris O’Doherty (aka Reg Mombassa) Self-portrait with trunks and twigs. The Wynne Prize selections include works by Warren Crossett, Kathryn Ryan, Ann Thomson and Rhoda Tjitayi. (See the full list here.)

The original Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) was held in Paris in 1863, and the Australian version has been presented annually since 1992 at the National Trust SH Ervin Gallery in Sydney.

“The Salon des Refusés The exhibition follows the renegade spirit and tradition of an alternative salon and enables a debate on evolving definitions of contemporary portraiture with art that is guaranteed to be witty, controversial and engaging, ”said Jane Watters, director of the SH gallery Ervin.

Windmill will debut on television

Beep and death producer Kaye Weeks, director Rosemary Myers and designer Jonathon Oxlade. Photo: Shane Reid

Production has started in Adelaide on a new children’s television series based on Windmill Theater Company’s award-winning show, Beep.

Beep and death is the local company’s first foray into television and is produced with ABC and Screen Australia, with support from SA Film Corporation. Described as a multimedia show for preschoolers, it revolves around two friends from different worlds and will premiere on ABC Kids at the end of 2022.

“Throughout the creative development of this series, we have tapped into our theatrical roots but also incorporated new technologies,” director Rosemary Myers said of Beep and death, which is designed by Jonathon Oxlade, a regular contributor to Windmill.

“The result is a contemporary hybrid form of puppet that mixes hand and rod puppets with puppets of post-animated objects. In an animation-dominated screen landscape, we want to create a textured, constructed world that kids feel like they can almost walk in and walk around. “

According to SAFC CEO Kate Croser, this will be South Australia’s first children’s studio program in over a decade.

Light up the alley

New light-based artwork by emerging South Australian artist Anna Revesz is currently lighting up Produce Lane in the West End.

The works are from the Revesz series Surrealism in the dark and it is said that they “explore the idea of ​​chance and how it can lead both the artist and the public on unexpected paths, towards surprising discoveries”. While the light boxes (Photo) can be viewed at any time, the screenings can be seen every evening from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m.

They are presented as part of the Produce Lane initiative, which is part of the Hindley Street Improvement Plan, which is implemented through a partnership between TAFE SA, Adelaide College of Arts and the City of Adelaide.

Anna Revesz, Surrealism in the dark, 2021, installation view. Image courtesy of the artist and the City of Adelaide. Photo: Sarita Burnett

Green Room is a regular column in InReview, providing quick news to those interested or involved in the arts and culture of South Australia.

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